Workshop insulation
Discussion
I have a newly acquired house complete with timber 'workshop' attached at the side - it is an just a timber frame with OSB cladding on the inside and a oak cladding/paneling on the outside. Roof is flat (albeit angled down towards rear to guttering) and the roof support is just timber beams holding OSB boards covered in normal roof felt.
I have put tools etc inside and during the winter they have become very moist........as in condensation is just all over them. It is quite well ventilated so not entirely sure why this is happening? But I do want to insulate it and install electric heating etc (I even thought of running 15mm through the house wall into the shed and putting a rad in place to run off the house CH heating! I am worried about frost etc though).
So, my question is how do I insulate this workshop/shed and protect my kit at the same time?!
(pics of finished workshop will obviously follow....)
I have put tools etc inside and during the winter they have become very moist........as in condensation is just all over them. It is quite well ventilated so not entirely sure why this is happening? But I do want to insulate it and install electric heating etc (I even thought of running 15mm through the house wall into the shed and putting a rad in place to run off the house CH heating! I am worried about frost etc though).
So, my question is how do I insulate this workshop/shed and protect my kit at the same time?!
(pics of finished workshop will obviously follow....)
First thing is to understand where the damp is coming in.
Here, I'd suspect moist air blowing up the valley from the river, but you can also do well to check the floor. If the ground is damp, you can get an awful lot of moisture in overnight when the ground is warmer than the air. A floor with a damp course of some sort can reduce that drastically.
Here, I'd suspect moist air blowing up the valley from the river, but you can also do well to check the floor. If the ground is damp, you can get an awful lot of moisture in overnight when the ground is warmer than the air. A floor with a damp course of some sort can reduce that drastically.
It is most definitely moist air so at the same time I understand I need adequate ventilation but also trying to insulate without stopping said ventilation is troublesome....
I will try and upload some pics tonight and this might help to explain my predicament.....but thank you all the same for the wise words!
I will try and upload some pics tonight and this might help to explain my predicament.....but thank you all the same for the wise words!
Ventilation - well, in this weather that just lets in more moisture...
I use a Meaco dehumidifier to stop my workshop getting too damp. There are no leaks as such but water vapour gets in somehow during wet spells and can make tools go rusty. I've rigged the dehumidifier up with an exit tube so it can be left, and it does a great job.
I use a Meaco dehumidifier to stop my workshop getting too damp. There are no leaks as such but water vapour gets in somehow during wet spells and can make tools go rusty. I've rigged the dehumidifier up with an exit tube so it can be left, and it does a great job.
f3nns said:
It is most definitely moist air so at the same time I understand I need adequate ventilation but also trying to insulate without stopping said ventilation is troublesome....
I will try and upload some pics tonight and this might help to explain my predicament.....but thank you all the same for the wise words!
Yes, the air is clearly damp, but the question is why? Where's the water coming from? Ventilation only helps if it is expelling air that is more humid than the air that's replacing it at a given temperature. In an unheated shed, why would the air inside the shed be more humid than the air outside?I will try and upload some pics tonight and this might help to explain my predicament.....but thank you all the same for the wise words!
Ventilation in a house works because (a) normal activity in the house adds water to the air (breathing, evaporation from showers and baths, clothes drying) and (b) there's usually a big temperature difference between inside and outside the house, so even if the fresh air coming into the house is humid, it then warms up and that allows it to carry much more water ... i.e. heating it reduces its humidity.
A shed is not a house. There shouldn't be any activity pumping water into the air in a shed. And if it is unheated, then you aren't going to be reducing the humidity of the fresh air as it enters the shed because you're not heating it. So ventilation shouldn't help much if the shed is working properly ... i.e. so long as there isn't something making the inside extra damp.
Insulating a shed will generally reduce the day/night temperature swings and that should help keep the temp inside the shed above the dew point, so insulating is a good idea, but if you're frequently getting condensation in your shed then there's another problem to solve. Something is making the air damper then you'd expect.
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